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 Her one, baggy, plain dress was torn and soiled. Her hair hung more limply than normal and at least one creature was currently dying in it. She was cold, caked in mud, and alone. But, the hardest part of the scene she found herself in was her own impatience. Humbling herself so before these people had grated on her nerves. She had never been bowed down to, or even listened to really, on any matter, but this total abandonment of pride wasn’t easy for her. But, she knew, it was necessary. Having others decide her futures and rights was nothing unusual for her. That she’d just traveled clear across the galaxy alone and by her own decision was shocking to her. She’d spent the past fourteen as a slave child and allowed fewer rights than many slaves of the galaxy, though she did not know it. What bothered her most was that despite all this, all that she’d done and go through, her one request might be denied. By strangers, no less. By people with no idea of who or what she truly was, and based only on their own fears, no less. She’d been passed from one numbskull to another, none of which could find the courage to make a decision. She was almost sure that they’d allow her to do it, out of their own convince as much as any kind gesture toward her; so the constant delay and indecision made her want to scream. When at last she’d reached beings named Kenobi, Skywalker, Organa, and Solo she gave up on attempting to appear meek and humble. Her growing anger and frustration wore on her heavily. Had she been born just ten years earlier she might have known at least two of those four names and been awed, but she wasn’t and at the moment she was in no temper to care that the older man had a Force presence to be rivaled with. She’d expected that. Luckily she’d grown quite skilled in masking her own thoughts and emotions within the Force. She could blank them out completely if needed to. That’d been easy, projecting a false impression had been far harder to learn, especially when she had to be her own teacher and being caught at it meant receiving a painful punishment, again. “I can see little harm in it,” Kenobi said at last, after thinking long and hard on the question, “as long as the guards remain in place and he is kept sedated.” “This is convenient,” Skywalker protested, “she arrives here, where he is, and within no time asks to care for him. I don’t trust her.” “She’s a child!” Organa protested with a brief laugh. “You can’t seriously believe she can overpower or in any way deceive even the guards, not to mention all of us. Luke, be realistic.” “She cannot, but he could,” Luke argued. “You are right to be cautious,” Kenobi told Skywalker gently, “but I think we should honor this request. Until she shows that she has another agenda, we will believe her to be genuine and be grateful to her for her help.” “Thank you, sir,” Katrina answered with a slight, awkward curtsey. And so, Palpatine’s most powerful daughter came to care for the captured Darth Vader. |
